According to bank documents, the project objective is to “Improve agriculture and livestock productivity and strengthen the resilience6 of beneficiary rural households in the targeted rainfed areas”.

The project has three components:

1. Increased Productivity and Resilience (US$12.00) – This component would support the intensification of crop production through better surface water management and improved agronomic practices, including the use of improved inputs such as certified seeds. The focus would be on traditional dryland crops such as millet, sorghum and cowpea. This intensification would involve the introduction of landscape management practices that integrate sedentary livestock production with crop production. Livestock held in a more controlled environment on fenced pastures or pens would cause less damage to crops and the natural environment. Support for genetic improvement and better livestock husbandry practices would ideally lead to smaller herds of more productive animals.
2. Marketing Support and Income Generation Activities (US$ 5.00) - This component would focus on income generating activities and job creation along the first segments of the agricultural and livestock value chains and targeted to the most vulnerable populations (mainly women, youth and returnees). The project will support a grants mechanism, for financing small-scale projects aimed at developing an activity promoting: (i) the marketing of traditional products, benefiting from the inputs of the first component (e.g. coarse grains, cowpeas, fodder, horticultural products, milk including camel milk, red meat), (ii) innovative commercial activities (e.g. creation of poultry farms, harvest of gum arabic, production of oils or medicinal powders), or (iii) general services that support the local agriculture economy such as tilling services, transport or transformation.
3. Institutional Support, Project Management and Contingency Emergency Recovery Component - CERC (US$3.00) - This component would provide support for project monitoring, implementation and institutional development. In this way, the project will contribute to strengthening the capacity of government institutions and private
   service providers to meet the needs of the population in rainfed areas. To the extent possible, the acquisition of new technologies and methodologies would build on the experience of neighboring countries in the implementation of the World Bank's West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program - WAAPP program. In addition, a CERC component reflecting the practices of current operations in Mauritania will be developed during preparation in collaboration with the Social Protection Team working on the financing mechanisms of emergency interventions in the country.

World Bank:
Daniel P. Gerber, Nicolas Ahouissoussi
Senior Agriculture Economist

Borrower:
Ministere de la Finance

Implementing Agency:
Ministere du Development Rural
Abdellahi, Baba Zeyad
Direction des Strategies de la cooperation et du Suivi-Eval
abdellababa@yahoo.com 

Ahmed Salem El arbi
Directeur des Politiques, de la Cooperation et du Suivi Eval
salem3tr@yahoo.fr 

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